In the protective garment industry, fire resistant garments used in the oil and gas sector, among other industries, are frequently disposed of in large quantities. For example in Alberta, Canada, it is estimated that 1000 tons of fire resistant garments are disposed of each year. Aramids are estimated to comprise 500 tons of these disposed garments. Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers produced under trade names such as Nomex, Conex, Arawin, etc. The aramid fiber handles similarly to normal textile apparel fibers, and is characterized by excellent resistance to heat as it never melts or ignites at normal levels of oxygen. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission defines aramid fiber as a manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a long-chain synthetic polyamide in which at least 85% of the amide linkages, (—CO—NH—) are attached directly to two aromatic rings. Disposal presents difficulties as the aramids contain benzene rings and should not be incinerated. Currently, disposal in landfills is the only option.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,950 to E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, herein expressly incorporated by reference, discloses a flame protective yarn, fabric, and garment that contain modacrylic, p-aramid, and m-aramid fibers. The yarn comprises 40 to 70 weight percent (wt %) modacrylic fiber, 5 to 20 wt % p-aramid fiber, and 10 to 40 wt % m-aramid fiber. The modacrylic fiber is an acrylic synthetic fiber made from a polymer comprised primarily of acrylonitrile. The polymer is a copolymer comprising 30 to 70 wt % of an acrylonitrile and 70 to 30 wt % of a halogen-containing vinyl monomer. The halogen-containing vinyl monomer is at least one monomer selected, for example, from: vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, vinyl bromide, and vinylidene bromide. Examples of copolymerizable vinyl monomers are: acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, salts or esters of such acids, acrylamide, methylacrylamide, and vinyl acetate. Additives can be used with the aramid and it has been found that up to as much as 10 wt % of other polymeric material can be blended with the aramid or that copolymers can be used having as much as 10 wt % of other diamine substituted for the diamine of the aramid or as much as 10 wt % of other diacid chloride substituted for the diacid chloride of the aramid. M-aramids are those aramids where the amide linkages are in the meta-position relative to each other, and p-aramids are those aramids where the amide linkages are in the para-position relative to each other. In the practice of this invention the aramids most often used are poly(paraphenylene terephthalamide) and poly(metaphenylene isophthalamide).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,999 to E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, herein expressly incorporated by reference, discloses a flame protective yarn, fabric, and garment that contain modacrylic, p-aramid, and m-aramid fibers. The yarn consists essentially: of from 50-80 wt % meta-aramid fiber having a degree of crystallinity of at least 20%, 10-30 wt % modacrylic fiber, 5-20 wt % para-aramid fiber, and 1-3 wt % antistatic fiber based on the total weight. The fabric has a basis weight in the range of 5.5 to 7 oz per square yard.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,643 to E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, herein expressly incorporated by reference, discloses a flame protective yarn, fabric, and garment comprising aramid fiber and modacrylic fiber wherein the modacrylic fiber has less than 1.5 wt % antimony. The fabric consists essentially of: 50-80 wt % meta-aramid fiber having a degree of crystallinity of at least 20%, 10-40 wt % modacrylic fiber that is antimony free, 5-20 wt % para-aramid fiber, and 1-3 wt % antistatic fiber based on the total weight. The fabric has a basis weight in the range of 4 to 12 oz per square yard.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,133,584 to E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, herein expressly incorporated by reference, discloses a flame protective yarn, fabric, and garment comprising aramid fiber and modacrylic fiber, wherein the modacrylic fiber has less than 1.5 wt % antimony. The fabric consists essentially: of 50-80 wt % meta-aramid fiber having a degree of crystallinity of at least 20%, 10-30 wt % flame-retardant rayon fiber, 10-20% wt modacrylic fiber, 0-5 wt % para-aramid fiber, and 0-3 wt % antistatic fiber based on the total weight. The fabric has a basis weight in the range of 5.5 to 7 oz per square yard.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,059 (a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,950) to E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, herein expressly incorporated by reference, discloses a yarn comprising: 40 to 70 wt % modacrylic fiber, and 5 to 20 wt % p-aramid fiber having a degree of crystallinity of at least 20 wt %. The fabric has reduced shrinkage due to the crystalline nature compared to a fabric wherein the m-aramid fiber is amorphous.
Other techniques for protective garments, yarns, and fabrics are disclosed in U.S. Publication Nos. 2011/0173734 to Mikhail et al., 2012/0146784 to Hines et al., 2014/0041107 to Rose et al., and 2014/0196201 to Guangdong Kingtide Development Co., Ltd., all of which are herein expressly incorporated by reference.
All of these prior references described above do not disclose yarns, fabrics, and garments suitable for flame protection that use recycled components. It is an object of this invention to provide at least a novel and non-obvious method and fabric comprising at least recycled material from used yarns, fabrics, and garments to avoid sending them to landfills while maintaining properties suitable for use as protective garments.